Dead of Night
by whysostephanie
Summary: A series of SHORT chapters. Zoey and Louis find themselves separated from their group as well as Ellis and Nick. The four are left to fight for their survival. They can surely protect each other from the zombies, but who will protect them from each other?
1. Chapter 1

The Dead of Night

Zombies, something out of fiction, right? Apparently not. How could the world have gone to hell so fast? Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Everything was falling apart. The group found themselves divided and even worse, separated. Zoey and Louis found themselves out of their element when they were forced to team up with Ellis and Nick- they didn't know them and didn't know if they could trust them either. Though, Ellis and Nick felt the same way towards the others. Coach, Rochelle, Francis and Bill were God knows where, they were on the other side of the river when the bridge got blown to pieces by a military jet overhead. It was more than likely an attempt to quarantine the area, or something to that effect.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now," Zoey shouted, throwing her machete to the ground in frustration. She knew she wouldn't be much help to the group, other than being bait if nothing else. Hunters, Jockeys, Chargers, hell all of the nasty creatures loved to target her the most. Louis knew that too, he'd always been the one to protect her, but he also knew that she had his back too.

"Say doll face, why don't you do us a favor and shut your mouth, okay?" Nick's snide reply came. Of course he was irritated that he'd just lost two of his own group members. But what could he do? "Unless you want to use it for something else," he joked with a smirk.

The woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "classy, real classy."

Louis pumped his shotgun, glaring at Nick. Nick threw his arms up in defense, "take a joke why don't ya."

Turning away and looking back at Zoey, Louis sighed and said, "come on, let's get going."

"You mean all of us, right?" Ellis finally spoke up, his tone held a bit of apprehension.

Louis just stopped and didn't turn his back to face the outsiders, it was no secret he didn't like them, especially Nick. All he knew was the only person he'd been able to trust throughout the time after the outbreak was Zoey; she had been the only one to be truly there for him. The thing about her though was her heart was too big, she was too kind.

"Of course you're coming with us," Zoey smiled warmly to Ellis to reassure him. At this Louis sighed, but Zoey put her hand on his shoulder quietly saying, "don't worry so much, we need their help."


	2. Chapter 2

The group had made it away from the highway, which had unfortunately been crawling with the undead. Finding themselves in a safe house in a cabin deep in the woods; they figured it was a good time to take a breather. The hoard was gone, but it surely took a toll on some group members. Zoey had what she assumed to be bruised ribs from a charger attacking, Ellis and Louis had been burned slightly by a backfire with a Molotov thrown at the hoard, and Nick's chest and left shoulder had been torn by a hunter. Rest seemed to be a blessing for the group at a time like this.

They were taking shifts for watch; it was Nick's turn to take second watch; Louis had just finished the first. An hour into the watch Nick found the silence of the world around him to be eerie, almost haunting, he realized how empty the world was becoming. He realized how pathetic the group was becoming. Hell, he even threw himself in the way of that hunter in order to protect Zoey. Even he didn't know why he did it, it was sheer impulse. Remembering the event, Nick gently grabbed his shoulder, wincing in pain.

"Here, let me heal you," a voice came, taking him by surprise. He turned to see the woman he'd just been thinking of.

"Sweetheart, don't waste your time. I'm fine."

Zoey put a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow. "Oh Mr. Tough Guy, are you? Look, I owe you for earlier. I really do."

Nick just gave a smug look, "well you know, there are other ways you could make it up to me."

"In your dreams, _sweetheart,_" Zoey mocked as she reached for the bandages. Nick may have been a charmer but she wasn't going to give in that easily. Unraveling the gauze, she put it on the table, which Nick was sitting on. His jacket was set on the back of a chair beside it, it was torn and bloodied. Zoey gave a sympathetic look; she was grateful to this man for saving her life, but she felt terrible that this had been her fault. The hunter was going after her, not him.

Nick looked into Zoey's beautiful brown eyes, the moonlight showing through the barricades on the window. "Fine," he muttered looking away back outside. Zoey slowly made her way in front of him, and gave him an unsure look; he still looked away.

Gently she reached her hands to his shirt, unbuttoning it slowly and carefully by where it was torn. She gasped as he saw the wounds and fresh claw marks, Nick finally looked back towards her, noticing how close she was standing to him. I smirk played on his lips, "it's just a scratch."

Zoey looked down, trying not to blush, she finished unbuttoning his shirt; revealing his wounds as well as his well-toned body. She began to clean the wound, noticing how Nick gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. "How's that," she asked softly, gently placing her hand on the gauze she had wrapped around him.

Nick's body was tense; he looked down at her, gently using his right hand to move the hair out of her face. His words were silky, as his north east accent came through. He leaned closely to her as he whispered, "thanks, doll face."

* * *

**Author Note:**  
Told you the chapters were short... Sorry if it's rushed. It's just scraps, not a full length story by any means. Hope you enjoy it so far! MMM, tension between Nick and Zoey... ;)


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell happened here…?" Louis whispered to himself as he looked onward at the desolate area that looked like a small town, or what used to be one.

"Just the end of the world, no big deal," Nick's sarcasm was blatant and tasteless, so Louis thought.

The scene before them was something unlike what they were used to seeing; there were no bodies, no signs of massacre or violence. Everything seemed so… deserted. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was how half the buildings looked as though they were burned. Ellis finally offered his own opinion to what might have happened, "guys, this looks like that whole Chernobyl thing or Hiro Shima or something. "

"Oh my god…. You don't think…" Zoey began, stopping herself putting her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened.

"A radiation bomb vaporizing everything? Like I said, the end of the world," Nick scoffed in his usual pessimistic view of things.

Zoey sighed at this, Louis gave out a mocking tone as well, "seriously Nick, could you just STOP being an ass hole for five seconds?"

Something that surprised everyone was when Nick raised his pistol to Louis, the others stared on in shock. "WHAT THE FUCK NICK! Put that down!" Zoey pleaded, but without warning the gun was fired. Everything froze for a moment. Louis screamed, "HOLY SHIT MAN!" It took everyone a moment to collect themselves, realizing Louis was fine. Apparently each of them had been too oblivious to notice the infected individual stammering behind the man.

"There, I stopped being an ass for five second. To save your sorry ass life," Nick rolled his eyes as he walked off on his own. "Looks like they missed one, there's probably more around.

It had been a few days since the group was stuck in the cabin safe house in the woods, each of them had finally healed up for the most part. Zoey tended to Nicks scratches and the burns Ellis and Louis had. In return Louis checked on Zoey, making sure she was okay; broken ribs and all. It was no secret that each of the men had her back, some more than others.

As the group walked through the desolate city, they found a disturbing lack of infected. Not that they were going to complain; not having to shoot something every half a second was nothing short of a blessing.

"This place is givin' me the creeps," Ellis murmured.

"I hear ya," Zoey agreed, waiting for a hunter to strike out of nowhere or something.

In the silence, Louis stopped, "shh, do you hear that?"

"Sounds like a witch, lights off everyone," Nick commanded as they group took caution to the crying they heard in the air, it was nearly twilight and they all knew they had to find a place to hold up for the night. It was never safe to go out at night if they could avoid it.

* * *

**Author Note: **

****The next chapter will be a follow up of this one, I'm not feeling very creative though ;_; I'm sorry guys. And YES, it is short. All chapters of this story will be SHORT.


	4. Chapter 4

The witch tore at Zoey's entire body, she screamed as did Zoey; the witch had surely lived here before she had become infected. What stories she could tell if only she wasn't a ravaging monster. Zoey cried out for help as the witch tore through her jacket and skin.

"Zoey!" Louis shouted shooting the witch as he fired his shotgun at it, but it was Nick who came and beheaded the creature with the chainsaw he was wielding.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Zoey's voice was shaking as she saw the blood gushing from her fresh cuts. Louis was quick to help the poor girl to her feet, exchanging an accepting look with Nick. He may have hated the man, but he was grateful that he saved Zoey's life- for the second time now.

Ellis rushed over, also covered in blood; but not his own. He'd been busy fighting off a hoard while the others took on the witch. "That's not good, shit guys," he spoke in awe of the sight. "We need to patch 'er up ASAP!"

Blood was everywhere but the group found a safe house. Louis had placed Zoey on the table, as Nick and Ellis boarded up the doors and windows. "It's going to be okay Zo. We're safe now; we'll get you cleaned up."

"I'm so sorry…" Her voice was weak as she slowly blinking.

Ellis rushed over with adrenaline and first aid, "no, no, no, you gotta stay awake little lady."

The guys did what they could to patch up Zoey, but she was in a lot of pain. Finally, Louis decided it was a good idea for her to rest after they had gotten the bleeding to stop. He sat there watching her for a while, he felt like he had been letting her down lately. Nick seemed to be the one to be watching her back more often than he had been.

Louis saw the way Nick would shamelessly flirt with her, it honestly got to him. He had always felt drawn to Zoey and now some mobster ex-con was there saving her life. It made Louis feel useless, but he knew all he could do was be there for her.

During the silence of the night, Ellis walked over to Louis, "why don't you get some rest, man, you deserve it."

Louis just nodded and let Ellis take over his shift, Ellis sat there watching the night out the small window on the door, he kept noticing Zoey stir every so often. He was glad she was okay, for the most part at least. Again, the silence was broken by a voice, "women, eh? Can't live with 'em but sure as hell can't live without 'em."

It was Nick, Ellis gave a shrug, "when the world is like this, it doesn't matter."

"Touché," Nick scoffed, "she'll be okay though, right?" his voice softened a bit.

"So, the high and mighty does care about other people?" Ellis laughed.

"Only her at this point," Nick said coldly.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

A few days had passed, Zoey's wounds had started to heal but she still couldn't push herself to much. Throughout the entire thing she couldn't help but notice Louis and Nick bicker back and forth. She felt like she was burdening the group, or that she was even a distraction.

The group had secured a small house in the meantime as they knew that Zoey had to rest up in order for them to move on. There was a knock on her door; she turned to see Ellis walk in. She was trying to clean some of her scratches, but was obviously struggling a bit.

"Let me help ya with that," Ellis said softly walking over to her.

"Thanks Ellis, but I can get it," Zoey protested.

Ellis just gave out a small laugh and a smile, "hey, I got your back too. While Louis and Nick are so busy fightin' over ya, I'm here to sweep you off yer feet and steal ya away."

There was a pause, Zoey looked at him and returned the smile, "well, at least you have the decency to tell me first," she teased.

"Nah, seriously now, I'm sorry you got to put up with them all the time. Especially being hurt and all," Ellis said as he wrapped fresh bandages on the wounds. Zoey just sighed and tried not to wince at the pain caused by the pressure on her wounds. Ellis didn't have the softest touch, but she did appreciate it. A friend is what she needed, not some ex con trying to be all sweet on her. She knew she had Louis, but worried that the same thing would happen with him.

"It can be exhausting, yeah…"

"Wait, ya mean you aren't as eager to repopulate the world as Nick seems to be?" Ellis teased, the two of them laughed, they could hear Nick retort from down the hall, a snide, _I HEARD THAT_.

"Well, the walls must be thinner than we thought…" Zoey grinned.

Ellis sat on the bed next to her, "yeah, I guess."

She looked over to him, noticing a solemn look on his face, "so what's your story?" Her voice was sweet, considerate, and genuine. Ellis just started into her brown eyes; he had joked with his group about how beautiful she was before any of this had happened… But now that he found himself in a new group with her in it, he couldn't help but feel a certain soft spot for the young woman.

"It's nothin' really… Nothin' interesting anyway. I was working in the shop on one of the cars when I heard the radio come on some emergency broadcast. I was gonna try to get home and check on my folks and my sister, but it was a lost cause. All the roads were blocked and there was just no way to get there… That about when I met up with Rochelle and Coach. Nick came around later…"

Zoey's gaze softened, "so you don't know if your family is still out there?"

"Nah… I don't," Ellis' voice was quiet, "but I guess y'all are my family now."


	6. Chapter 6

"Zoey, please, just wait," Louis pleaded as the woman walked ahead of him with a quick pace. She was angry, not that she hadn't been entitled to it, Louis had been acting ridiculous lately and even he knew it.

A week had passed since they left their shelter; Zoey had healed, they had gathered ample supplies, and were ready to get back out on the road. Louis and Nick had gotten in a fight- and of course it had been about Zoey. Louis had accused Nick of "being up to something," of course this accusation. Sure he was a liar, a cheat, even a con man. But this wasn't the real world anymore; in his opinion everyone was back to square one.

"No, Louis, I'm sick of how you've been acting. Seriously whatever this is, no one should be worrying about this. We need to worry about surviving. That's it," Zoey said coldly, "why do you have to make such a big deal of Nick? It's not like I'd go for him or anything."

"Zoey, it's just… You are the ONLY person I've been able to trust in all of this… From the beginning. Yeah, Bill was a good guy. Francis wasn't horrible… But you, you have been the only person I can count on to get me through the day anymore."

Zoey stopped, she sighed as she hung her head. Since her group had gotten split up she had forgotten about all the times her and Louis had been there for each other. "I'm sorry, Louis," she said softly, turning to look at him, "for all of this."

In the meantime, Nick and Ellis were scouting out the highway they had been following. There was supposedly a rescue shelter in a town down the road a ways.

"So, what do you think happened to Rochelle and Coach?" Ellis said in an attempt to make small talk.

"Who knows, they're capable though," Nick said blankly, "hey, there's laser sights over here."

Ellis nodded, "yeah, you're probably right."

"Yeah, hopefully they're getting along with their new group better than we are. Who does that god damn Louis think he is anyway? Just because he may have been some lawyer or accountant or whatever doesn't mean he's better than us," Nick said, his voice obviously annoyed.

"That's not what this is about is it though?" Ellis said with an eyebrow raised.

"Shut up," Nick retorted, "you don't know anything."

* * *

**Author Note:  
**Hey y'all... I've been running dry on ideas lately so sorry the chapter is pretty dull. Feel free to give suggestions in a review of something! Hope you're enjoying the story.


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